---

Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Indeed, they may not even wait until night. I am sure that the House will endorse my hon. Friend’s comments on that point. The hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan) talked about what is not in the Bill, and he raised one or two important issues. If I may, I suggest that you and your colleagues, Madam Deputy Speaker, have been correct to allow the debate to stray slightly wider to talk about the future role of MI5, because it is relevant. The hon. Gentleman also spoke about possible exclusion from the Assembly, and the Secretary of State assured him that he did not seek to bring that about. The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), with whom I have shared proceedings on so many statutory instruments, asked why the Bill will create so many more statutory instruments. The hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) said how good it was to be debating primary legislation, and that is true, but the downside is that it will lead to many more Orders. The Government say that they are intent on getting the Assembly up and running soon, but it is rather contradictory to introduce so many important matters through statutory instrument. The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire also talked about recording people for electoral purposes and he made a sensible suggestion. There could be an opportunity to send out forms to households, even though it is individuals who are registered, to check that the details were correct. I understand why the system is being changed, and that in Northern Ireland people have to record much more information. However, I discussed the issue in Northern Ireland last week and it appears that people could still slip through the net. The hon. Gentleman made a sensible proposal and perhaps we will discuss it in Committee.